Remembering Draco Malfoy
by behindthatcover
Summary: Draco and Hermione had been dating secretly for a few years, but when Draco is forced to join the ranks of the death eaters, he casts a memory charm on Hermione to make her forget about him, in an effort to protect her as he's sure that Voldemort would harm her as Voldemort hated muggle-borns having anything to do with death eaters.
1. Chapter 1

Draco casts the memory charm on Hermione one night to protect her from Voldemort and Hermione forgets all about him and everything they had. Almost. Please review :)

"_Hermione_,_ I'm so sorry, I love you, but I have to do this, I have to protect you."_

_"Draco, what do you mean?"_

_"Obliviate."_

Hermione woke up the next day, feeling groggier than ever. Something just didn't seem right. She already felt like a part of her was missing. Try as she might, she couldn't locate that missing part. Hermione felt light-headed, and even a little sad. Strange..she thought to herself as she made her way to the great hall for breakfast in the company of her best friends, Harry and Ron.

"Any disappearances in the Daily Prophet today?" Ron asked, as he chewed his way through his fourth sausage. Hermione scanned the page, "None that we know of," she replied. She glanced up, she had the eerie feeling that she was being watched. And just in time too, for she made eye contact with a Slytherin boy who had been obviously staring at her. His hair was golden and silky, his face pale and pointed, he was very handsome really, the kind that girls swooned over. He seemed like the type of person that had it good in life. So why was it that his eyes were red and swollen, a giveaway that he had been crying? Hermione thought to herself. The boy was staring at her like he knew her, he just couldn't take his eyes off her. Hermione had the strangest feeling that they had met before, but a sudden realisation dawned on her. She didn't even know his name.

"Harry, who's that?" Hermione asked in a would-be-casual tone, pointing in the boy's direction. Harry stared at her in disbelief. "Surely you know him? We have had potions class with him for the last five years, he's Draco Malfoy!" Deciding it would be better to act like she knew who Draco was, she just nodded her head and continued with her breakfast.

It was double potions with the Slytherins after breakfast, a lesson which all Gryffindors dreaded, Hermione included, since Snape, the potions master was well-known for favouring the Slytherins over the Gryffindors and loved to pick on the Gryffindors.

Snape set them the task of brewing a babbling potion, and started his rounds around the class, taking a vindictive pleasure in breathing down Neville's neck while making nasty comments about his potion. Snape was coming Hermione's way, and even though she was normally very good at potions, her potion was still a bright acid green, even though it was supposed to be sky blue by then. She glanced around, distraught. If there was anything Hermione hated, it was Snape making horrible comments about her potions.

"Stir three times clockwise, then six times anti-clockwise." A quiet voice from Hermione's right made her jump. There was only that boy...Draco on her right, and she could have sworn he had said that, but he was staring into his cauldron, quite determinedly avoiding her eyes now. Hermione was suspicious, after all Slytherins helping Gryffindors and Gryffindors helping Slytherins was virtually unheard of, but taking advice from a Slytherin was her last option now. Steeling herself in case her cauldron exploded, she did as he said. Almost instantly, her potion turned sky blue.

Just in time, for barely a second later Snape was peering into her cauldron. He seemed disappointed that he couldn't criticise her, but couldn't resist saying in an almost sneering manner, " little miss know-it-all did it again...maybe you've been cheating... no one can brew potions this well." The silky dangerous voice that murmured those unfair words made Hermione's blood boil, and she bit back an angry retort. But before she could compose herself, the boy to her right said quietly but with obvious anger in his voice," It's unfair professor, she did it all by herself, you have no right to insult her when she did the potion right."

It was hard to tell who was more taken aback, Hermione or Snape, shocked that a student from his own house would defend a Gryffindor. Snape's mouth opened and closed again. Evidently, he was at a loss for words and chose instead to ignore him. Snape strode away and Hermione was left gaping. The boy stared straight ahead, and went back to ignoring Hermione's presence. Hermione was extremely confused, to say the least. Who was this Slytherin, who helped her and defended her, and why was it that he seemed so familiar...


	2. Chapter 2

"Draco?" Hermione called out tentatively in the corridor outside the Potions classroom. She wanted to find out why he had helped her. Draco whirled around, too fast. His bag hit the wall next to him and all the contents in it spilled out. And "all the contents" also included a tiny photo of Hermione that he foolishly carried around with him, a tiny bit of the past which he just could not bring himself to let go off.

Draco hastily stooped down and shoved all his contents back in his bag, face burning red, hoping against hope that Hermione had not seen..."Draco, is that a photo of me?" Hermione asked in disbelief, snatching the tiny photo of her at the Yule Ball from his grasp. "I...uh..."Draco had no idea what to say. He cursed himself mentally, he had vowed to himself to break all ties with Hermione but less than twenty-four hours later he had got himself into this sticky mess.

Draco had never been more relieved to see Crabbe and Goyle appear besides him. "C'mon Malfoy, let's go," Crabbe growled, shoving the rest of Draco's belongings back into his bag, and making an attempt to grab back the photo from Hermione's grasp. But Hermione was far too quick. With a blazing, questioning look at Draco, she leaped out of the way and ran back to where Harry and Ron were, the photo still held in her palm.

"That mudblood botherin' you again?" Goyle asked Draco. Draco figured he might as well act his part out convincingly and said loud enough for Hermione to hear, "Yeah, that filthy mudblood looking through my stuff when my books fell out of my bag." But almost instantly, Draco regretted his careless words. Hermione turned back and glared at him, her eyes filled with hurt, and Draco saw Ron put his arm round her and comfort her. Jealousy shot through Draco. Ron's arm didn't belong there, just twenty-four hours ago he would have been in Ron's place, but he had made his choice now, and it was too late to turn back.

Hermione walked to her Ancient Runes class feeling extremely confused. Why in the name of Merlin's pants did a Slytherin help her in potions class, then call her a filthy mudblood less than half an hour later. That same Slytherin also happened to have a photo of her in his bag. She scrutinised the photo carefully along the silent corridor she was now walking. There was a wizard besides her in the photograph, and both she and the wizard where smiling and waving happily at the camera, and she realised with a start that the wizard's arm was around her shoulder, and the wizard also happened to be Draco Malfoy.

She stared at the photo for a long time. The photo seemed both alien and extremely familiar at the same time. Hermione had no memory of ever having taken a photo with Draco, but the photo which she was now holding was proof that she had. Hermione examined the photo even more closely. It seemed like it had been taken at some ball. She herself was wearing a flowing purple ball gown and Draco was dressed in a tuxedo. Frustration gnawed inside her, she certainly could not show the photo to Harry or Ron, as they considered even talking to a Slytherin utterly scandalous, but she knew that she had to find some answers quickly. Stuffing the photo back in her bag, she hurried to Ancient Runes, feeling oddly alone.

Meanwhile, Draco was already in Ancient Runes, unable to concentrate on the lesson. His head was whirling, and his emotions were conflicted again. A tiny part of him itched to find a spell or a potion to bring back Hermione's memory, that part of her that he sorely missed, but his conscience held him back. Things had to remain where they were, for Hermione's good. Draco, pull yourself together, he told himself firmly, you can't let Hermione get hurt by the dark lord because you selfishly decided to keep her to yourself. But the image of Ron wrapping his arm around Hermione stuck in his mind, and by the end of the lesson Draco and conceded defeat to his emotions and had came to a compromise with himself to make friends with the new Hermione Granger. Just friends, and nothing more, he told himself firmly. How quickly he had gave in, he laughed coldly at himself, at his weakness. He had already made up his mind to keep as far away from Hermione as possible, but now he was already backtracking on his promise to himself. He had already realised in less than a day that he could not survive without the company of Hermione, the emptiness and loneliness without her was just too much to bear. There was a problem though. Draco had no idea how to befriend someone, and the fact that that "someone" was a Gryffindor and him a Slytherin did not make the task any simpler. And somewhere, deep inside him, a voice whispered to him, "You know you don't simply want to be "just friends" with Hermione."


	3. Chapter 3

Just as luck would have it, Gryffindors and Slytherins had Defense against the Dark Arts lessons together the next day. Umbridge had mercifully taken ill that day and the class heaved a sigh of relief upon realising that Dumbledore himself would be taking over from Umbridge due to a shortage of teachers. But Draco had a sense of foreboding that something was going to go terribly wrong when Dumbledore announced to the startled class that they would be learning how to produce patronuses that lesson. After all, Draco's patronus was an otter, identical to Hermione's, and would no doubt raise suspicion in the class if he produced the same patronus as Hermione. It was widely known that if someone had an identical patronus to another person, that someone most probably had deep feelings for that person, often romantic feelings, and Draco was determined to keep that part of him that loved Hermione hidden.

"Now, wands at the ready," Dumbledore instructed the class. "Think of a very strong, happy thought and say the words _Expecto Patronum_." Most of the people around Draco managed to produce wisps of smoke from the tips of their wands, but Draco was so worried that he might produce a corporeal patronus as he done so before that he did not even attempt to think of a happy memory. As Dumbledore walked around the room assisting students, Draco decided that he might as well drop the attempt at a patronus altogether. Instead, Draco's feet somehow found their way to Hermione.

He gazed at her, her pretty features screwed up in concentration as she tried her best to produce a patronus. Hermione had never been able to produce a patronus at will, not like Harry, and Draco knew that that must annoy her tremendously, as she took pride in being top in everything that she did. Meanwhile, a silver stag was charging around the room and he saw that Hermione became more and more frustrated as her failed attempts increased while Harry succeeded on his every attempt.

Draco decided that he could not stand around and watch Hermione suffer, he had to do something. His judgement was always bad when it came to Hermione, and this time was no exception. Ignoring the glares from the Slytherins, he walked to Hermione's side and offered to help her with her patronus. Under normal circumstances, Hermione certainly would not have accepted help from Slytherins, but she was desperate now, and accepted Draco's offer without a second thought.

"So what's your happy thought?" Draco asked curiously. "Is it really strong enough?" Hermione hesitated for a while. Now that she really thought about it, the only happy thought she could think of was when she managed to get on a broom without falling off. "I can't think of anything particularly happy," Hermione confessed after a while. "It's like all my really happy memories somehow vanished...I know they're there somewhere, but I just can't locate them, no matter how hard I try." To add to her frustration over her failed patronus, Hermione still could not remember the happiest memories she had, and without warning tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She turned away, embarrassed, hoping that Draco had not seen her tears, but he had, and his heart ached for her. He questioned himself again whether it really had been best for Hermione when he had cast the memory charm on her, taking away her treasured memories.

"Here, take this," Draco reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a handkerchief. He did not care what the Slytherins thought about him, he just could not stand seeing Hermione sad, especially since he was the reason behind her sadness. "Don't cry, you won't be able to produce a patronus being sad," Draco tried to cheer her up by teasing her. Hermione took the handkerchief offered to her and managed a small smile. Something about Draco's presence was immensely comforting and it seemed to make up a little for the memories she vainly searched for but to no avail.

"How about the memory when you first found out you were a witch?" Draco offered. "Think about how you felt, the elation. Capture your emotions and concentrate carefully, then say _"Expecto Patronum."_" Hermione decided that she might as well take that piece of advice from Draco. She let his words flow over her as she concentrated as hard as she could. Hermione was rewarded with a wisp of smoke from the end of her wand and a smile from Draco. "Not bad," he said encouragingly. "Try that again, and try to summon up the full happiness of that moment when you first received your Hogwarts letter."

But there was little improvement from her first attempt. As the minutes ticked by, Hermione was beginning to lose patience with herself again. Tears of frustration clouded her eyes for the second time, and Draco was consumed with guilt for being the source of her disappointment with herself. He had seen her produce a corporeal patronus before on her sixth attempt, but by now they were already somewhere between Hermione's twenty-fifth and thirtieth attempt.

Hermione was just about to give up and run crying to the girls' lavatory but suddenly she decided to try again, just another try, she coaxed herself. And suddenly it occurred to her, how she had felt, that tiny leap her heart gave when Draco walked over and offered to assist her. _"__Expecto Patronum!" _Hermione exclaimed, concentrating every ounce of willpower she had left on the recent memory. And to her tremendous delight, a silver otter burst out from the tip of her wand and frolicked around her and Draco. Overcome with delight, Hermione hugged him.

It went without saying, Hermione and Draco had just become friends. Getting closer to Hermione was trouble, it meant danger even, Draco's instinct warned him. But seeing the sunny smile on Hermione's face and knowing that he was the reason behind it pushed remaining thought from Draco's head and he hugged her back. _  
_


	4. Chapter 4

"There's going to be a Quidditch match in three weeks, Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" Harry announced enthusiastically to the Gryffindor table during dinnertime in the Great Hall. While the rest of the Gryffindors around her cheered in excitement and anticipation, Hermione groaned inwardly. Tension between houses before Quidditch matches was unavoidable, and whenever there was a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, there was an almost guarantee that certain members of the two teams would end up hexed by people from opposing houses. And since Draco played seeker on the Slytherin team, Hermione, like the rest of the Gryffindors, was expected to find various ways to dampen his chances of playing in the match, to increase Gryffindor's chance of victory. Ways that included demoralising chants whenever passing him and teasing that was downright cruel.

Hermione sighed. There was no way she would take part in the underhand methods both houses employed when it came to Quidditch, no way she was going to jeopardise her new found friendship with Draco. She glanced over at the Slytherin table, expecting Draco to be as excited as Harry over the news. But she noticed that strangely, he seemed rather down. Crabbe and Goyle were commenting loudly on what hexes should be used on the Gryffindor team members while Draco just stared into space.

"And we're going to make the Slytherin team regret ever being born by the end of the match!" Harry finished off. Something inside Hermione snapped as she heard his words. "I don't see why Gryffindor and Slytherin can't get along. After all, we all belong to Hogwarts." Hermione tried to keep her tone even, but failed. The Gryffindors seated around her stared at her as though she had just suggested that they do the macarena with Snape right there and then. After a rather awkward silence, Ron finally remarked," Bloody hell Hermione, what's wrong with you? Things just don't work that way."

Hermione decided not to answer, and gradually the others turned away from her. But inwardly, a tiny part of her wanted Slytherin to win. She knew that that was wrong as she was a Gryffindor, but she just wanted to see Draco happy. Hermione did not want to admit to herself, but seeing Draco smile made her happy.

Meanwhile at the Slytherin table, Draco was miserably poking at his steak. In the next few weeks, he would be expected to keep away from Gryffindors, save a few insults aimed at the Gryffindor team. He vaguely remembered what he and Hermione had did the last time there had been a Quidditch match. They had escaped from everyone else in the midst of the excited chatter and had found solace in the room of requirement. "We'll come here together, whenever the quidditch fever gets too high," he had joked. It was only due to the long conversations with Hermione in the room that he managed to be excited about quidditch along with the rest of the school. The room had been the only place where they could talk without having dirty looks aimed in their directions.

"Draco, aren't you even the least bit excited, I'm sure you'll flatten Gryffindor in the match!" simpered Pansy, who was sitting next to him. Something about Pansy's words angered Draco. If Gryffindor lost the match, they would have to endure taunts from the Slytherins and Draco did not want Hermione to have to endure that. Especially since they could no longer head to the room of requirement to vent their feelings. "Have any of you ever thought about Slytherins and Gryffindors getting on, at least in a civilised manner, and especially before quidditch matches?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain casual. If only Hermione still had her memories, he caught himself wishing, then they would be able to escape from this craziness right now and head into the peace and solitude that the room of requirement provided.

The Slytherins around him stared at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "Come on Draco, you can't be serious," Crabbe said, "Unless it's because you don't want to break that little mudblood's heart by beating Gryffindor. I notice you've been acting rather nice to her..." he finished jokingly. However, Crabbe's words were right on target and in almost no time at all, Draco was livid. "Don't. call. Hermone. a. mudblood." he said menacingly. Calm down Draco, don't blow your cover, the sensible side of him urged. But Crabbe's next words did nothing for him. "Ooooh Draco's defending his mudblood girlfriend," he laughed meanly, and the rest of the people around him burst into laughter.

Before he knew it, Draco had reached over the table and grabbed Crabbe by his neck and lifted him into the air. Blood was pounding in his ears and only one thought registered in his mind: no one insults Hermione Granger in front of me. Something had changed within Draco when Hermione had hugged him in class. Hermione had wanted to be his friend for the second time, and he definitely would not let his friend be insulted again. Ignoring the startled gasps from the Slytherins, Draco hissed, "Apologise. Now." It was with great satisfaction that he noted that Crabbe's face had turned a deep shade of purple. Seeing as he had no choice, Crabbe managed to choke out a strangled "sorry" and was finally released and fell back into his seat with a loud thump.

Unknown to Draco, Hermione had heard the whole conversation and it was extremely hard for her to prevent a huge smile from appearing on her face. Draco had defended her in front of his friends, she thought, and her heart gave a pleasurable squirm. But this incident added to her growing list of questions that she wanted to ask Draco. Her mind formulated an idea for her to find some answers and she stood up and walked towards him. "Madam Hooch wants to see you at the quidditch pitch," Hermione said. "Alone," she added hastily as Crabbe and Goyle stood up to follow Draco as he got up himself.

Finally, I'll get my answers, Hermione thought to herself as she followed at a safe distance behind Draco as he made his way to the quidditch pitch in the darkening sky. It would be safe to ask all she wanted to in the darkness, and especially since she planned to take him on a walk through the school grounds, just the two of them, when the rest of the school was still in the Great Hall, eating their dinner with only quidditch on their minds.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment Draco reached the quidditch pitch, he knew that something was wrong, Madam Hooch wasn't there, not like Hermione had claimed. And as the sound of hasty footsteps, which he knew was Hermione's approached him, he knew she finally wanted some answers for his strange behaviour.

But Draco was not in the mood to be asked questions that he would not be able to answer and he quickened his pace, heading to the forbidden forest. Under normal circumstances, he would not dare venture there, especially in the complete darkness, but he wanted to run away. Run away from what he was not even sure of, he just wanted to escape reality and the cold, cruel world. The world without the Hemione who loved him.

However, Hermione caught sight of him and quickening her pace, hurried after him into the darkness, simultaneously drawing out her wand and muttering "lumos." She was a fast runner and she managed to catch up with Draco at the edge of the forest, catching hold of his robes to prevent him from going any further.

Seeing the familiar glint in Hermione's eyes whenever she was insistent on finding out something, Draco stopped trying to tear his robes from her grasp. He knew from experience that Hermione would stop at nothing to satisfy her curiosity, and if he did not attempt to answer her questions now, she would surely corner him sooner or later for the same purpose.

Sensing Draco had finally relented, Hermione plunged into her first question. "Why did you try to help me, then call me a mudblood, then help me again?" Draco sighed, this was a question that he had anticipated, but had no idea how to answer. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Well...?" Hermione tapped her foot impatiently, a gesture that Draco had somehow always found rather cute.

He decided to start to answer her question by asking a question himself. "What would you do if you had a boyfriend who could be harmed just because he knew you? Would you cast a memory charm to make him forget about you, or would you continue the relationship, knowing that he could be killed any day just for knowing you?"

Hermione took a step back. She had not expected that, but whenever the topic of memory charms were brought up, she would be on the verge of tears, and sometimes a very blurry image of someone pointing a wand at her would resurface in the hazy depths of her mind. And unfortunately for Hermione, with the boy with the hauntingly familiar features standing in front of her, she had the sudden urge to break down crying.

"I...I don't know..." she began uncertainly. "I would, I guess, if that would save him..." her voice trailed off and Hermione knew that she was lying to herself.

"But what about all the memories you had with him, would you be willing to let those go, would you willingly let him forget you and possibly fall in love with another person?" The intensity of Draco's voice startled Hermione and she forced herself to stare into those piercing gray eyes, and as she stared into them, they seemed to look right into the the depths of her soul. A tiny voice within her whispered the answer she was too ashamed to speak: no, she wouldn't, she wouldn't be able to give up everything. Hermione shook her head slowly.

As Hermione shook her head, she saw pain in Draco's eyes, and she felt something was amiss. Draco fought to keep his face expressionless. He musn't let the pain show, he musn't let the pain show, he told himself. The Hermione before him was not the Hermione he had confided in, no longer the Hermione he had shared his hopes, dreams and even his darkest secrets with.

An unnatural silence seemed to fall around them as Hermione whispered her next question, "But even if he forgot all about you, then met you as though meeting a new person, and somehow fell in love with you again. What would you do then?" The question had burst from the tip of her tongue, and even Hermione was startled by her words. They seemed foreign to her, the words she had just spoken seemed to have come from someone else. But they just seemed to sound so...right.

Draco's heart thumped painfully at her words. "But wouldn't have all your effort in protecting him be wasted?" he managed to choke out. Hermione thought for a second and a small, sad smile appeared on her face, "No, it wouldn't be, maybe he wanted to risk everything to be with you, maybe he wouldn't care if he died the next day, if he could die calling himself yours."


	6. Chapter 6

"What...what do you mean by that?" Draco stammered. What was Hermione trying to imply? He wondered. His heart gave a hopeful beat, maybe she was trying to hint that she remembered him after all and wouldn't mind staying with him despite the danger, he thought. But even as Draco watched Hermione hopefully, he knew that his hopes were futile.

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing," she murmured. The words had just fell from her lips, and she had thought they meant nothing much, but judging from Draco's reaction, Hermione knew that there probably was a significant meaning behind them. Frustration swelled up in her suddenly, and the boy standing in front of her suddenly seemed more familiar than ever. But still, she could not place her finger on why it was so. She closed her eyes, and the blurry image of the figure pointing a wand at her grew a little clearer and Hermione noticed that the person's hand was trembling. Opening her eyes, Hermione realised that Draco was looking at her with an expression that only could be described as sadness and longing.

"What is it?" Hermione shouted. She had not meant to lose control, but the hole in her memories was annoying her to no end and there was something hauntingly familiar about Draco that she just could not remember. And Hermione detested not remembering anything.

Draco stared into the depths of those flashing brown eyes, and beneath the anger he caught a glimpse of desperation and despair. It was the last straw for him. Under normal circumstances he could not stand hiding anything from Hermione, especially if it made her sad, and he decided there and then that he would do everything he could to help her remember him. Draco knew he was being very selfish, but he still somehow managed to convince himself that Hermione would not mind the danger if she could be with him.

Deciding that he might as well reveal a little of himself to her, Draco whispered to Hermione, "Do the patronus charm now. Trust me." Hermione stared at Draco with a mix of amazement and disbelief. Of all things, why the patronus charm now, she wondered. But the pleading look in his eyes combined with the bubble of curiosity in her convinced Hermione to do as he had requested. "_Expecto Patronum!" _she whispered, and to her tremendous delight, a silver otter burst out of her wand on her first attempt. As her otter frolicked around her, Hermione turned to Draco with a questioning look written all over her face.

It was his turn. Draco took a deep breath and said firmly," _Expecto Patronum."_ Nothing would have prepared Hermione for her shock. An otter, almost identical to hers, burst out of the end of Draco's wand and chased after her otter playfully. "Well, that's my patronus," Draco said, almost shyly. Hermione's mind whirled and she staggered back. Identical patronuses, she knew what that meant. Could it mean that she was his soulmate? Even though more questions rose in her mind, the thought of the mysterious Slytherin being her soulmate comforted her and a little of her frustration faded away.

The patronuses were not fading away. They were heading in the direction of the Whomping Willow, side by side. Draco thought it was strange, but instinct told him to follow them. And with a painful jolt, he suddenly remembered that the whomping willow was where he had first met Hermione. He had foolishly tried to touch one of the branches on a dare in his first year and had been whipped into the air by the branches. The people Draco called his friends had ran away, but luck was on his side. Hermione was nearby, and she had gathered up her courage and pressed the knot in the trunk to save him. They had exchanged shy smiles when he had recovered from his shock, and it was that day that had been the start of his best few years at Hogwarts.

"No, don't go there, that's the Whomping Willow." Hermione stopped in her tracks behind Draco. "It's really dangerous. There have been accidents involving it before. There's only one way to stop its branches moving, and that's by-" "Pressing the knot in the middle of the trunk." Draco finished the sentence for her.

"I saved someone before from the Whomping Willow,' Hermione started. "In my first year, I think." The memory seemed to have come from a long forgotten place, and she summoned up all her willpower to recall the memory. "He wasn't a Gryffindor I think," she continued hesitantly, her brows furrowed in concentration. Draco's heart skipped a beat, could it be possible that she remembered that day, he thought, and hope ignited in his heart.

But as quickly as it had came, the memory faded away, and Hermione felt tears leaking from her eyes. "It was a happy memory," she said softly. "I think it might have been the start of something wonderful. I can't remember anything more though. I can't even remember what that wonderful thing was." Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now, and Draco was staring distraughtly at her.

Hermione felt confused and ashamed for crying in front of Draco. She didn't usually breakdown, much less in front of others, but the deep sense of loss within her made her constantly on the verge of tears. Draco wanted to comfort Hermione, but he had no idea what to say. He wanted to say he was sorry, to explain everything, but he knew Hermione would not understand or remember, and that would just add to her growing list of frustrations.

Hermione took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She glanced at the identical patronuses besides the whomping willow. They ought to have faded by then, but they still were glowing brightly in the darkness. The patronuses showed what she and Draco were afraid to admit: They loved each other.


	7. Chapter 7

The silvery glow from the patronuses mesmerised Hermione and she stepped closer and closer to them, as though in a trance, suddenly unaware of the Whomping Willow. The patronuses seemed warm, reassuring, and she wanted to stay in the comfort of them and escape reality.

"Hermione, be careful!" Draco shouted suddenly from behind her. But even as he said that, he knew with a sickening dread inside him that it was too late. Hermione had stepped too close to the tree and had accidentally made contact with one of the branches. With a shriek of terror, she was lifted, higher and higher, into the air by a gnarled branch, the other branches whipping ferociously around her.

Draco felt as if he was in a nightmare. It seemed like their roles had been reversed from the time they were first years, and as he stared in terror at the violent branches, he wondered how Hermione had ever dared risked her life to press that knot in the trunk. Staring determindedly at the trunk, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, Draco knew that it was his turn to save Hermione.

"Draco, quickly!" Hermione screamed, "That knot, press it, hurry!" She had reached a dangerous height and was clinging onto a branch intent on shaking her off.

As a branch hurtled towards her, Hermione gave a squeak of terror and ducked, closing her eyes. And as she did so, a strange image appeared behind her closed eyelids. A boy, a small boy was clinging onto a branch of the whomping willow, just like she was. The bright sunlight shone on his face and glinted off his hair. It seemed to be the colour of gold, but she could not be sure. The people near the whomping willow were running away frantically, no one seemed to want to help the boy. With a sudden jolt, Hermione realised that the boy was the person whom she had saved that day. Her friends had yelled for her to run back , run away to safety, but there was something that prevented her from doing so. The boy had seemed so terrified, so vulnerable, and there seemed to be something special about him, something that she just could not explain. And a powerful instinct had told her to run into the fray and press the knot, and so she had done so. But...but she had no idea what came next after she had pressed the knot. Hermione's mind went blank, and she could remember no more about the mysterious boy she had saved.

"Hermione, the branch, watch out!" Draco had glanced up suddenly while making his mad dash towards the trunk of the Whomping Willow, only to see a branch heading in Hermione's direction while she remained motionless, her face ghostly white, her eyes shut tight, making no attempt to protect herself.

The moment of hesitation on Draco's part did them no good, and he was suddenly swept onto a branch. As he was swung back and forth, his eyes darted around as he searched frantically for Hermione. Guilt and terror filled him. Hermione had saved him when she was just in her first year, and all he had done trying to save her was get swept onto a branch and leave them with no way out.

Hermione suddenly spotted Draco and gave a groan of despair as she saw him on a hurtling branch. Her head spun and she thought she was going to be sick. Everyone was in the Great Hall, still eating and talking, everyone but her and Draco. And even if they weren't, no one would dare and try to save them. What a way to die, Hermione thought dimly to herself. Being thrown off a branch of a Whomping Willow then getting hit by the rest of its branches until she died.

As Hermione began to feel her fingers losing grip on the bucking branch, she thought she heard someone shout her name. But even as the scene around her started to fade and she started to lose consciousness, the voice shouting her name grew clearer and in her confused mind she realised it was Draco.

Draco's voice...Hermione tried desperately not to black out. She had to hear what he had to say. She didn't know why, she just had to. Through the wind whistling around her, Hermione could make out something about Draco saying sorry. Sorry for what, she wondered vaguely, and try as she might, she could feel herself slackening her grip even more on the branch.

I'm going to fall soon, I'm going to die, Hermione thought to herself. She was surprised at her calmness towards death but she had been so tormented by her mind that she thought that death might be a relief for all of the pain and anguish she was encountering.

But even through the increasing drowsiness and darkness that was threatening to engulf her any moment, Hermione could still hear Draco's voice. He was saying something about loving her, he was repeating it over and over again...his voice cracking as he told her he was sorry and that he loved her.

Wait...was Draco saying he loved her? The words suddenly registered in Hermione's brain and it seemed to wash away the blackness which was moments away from swallowing her up. The fog in her brain cleared, and it became clear to her what she must do.

Taking careful aim, Hermione jumped from the branch and sailed through the air, miraculously avoiding the branches whipping around her. She did not know how she did it, but she hit the knot and abruptly, the violent tree became still again.

Almost immediately, Draco landed in a heap next to her. "That was...brilliant," he said hoarsely, gazing at Hermione with a look that could only be described as adoration.

Relief washed over both of them. So I'm not dead, Hermione joked to herself. And Draco loves me, she added silently, her heart swelling with joy.

"So what was it you were trying to tell me up there?" Hermione teased. Draco went red, but he managed to stammer out," I...I love you. Actually, I always did." Draco gazed at Hermione's face and words seemed to fail him and he fell silent. As the darkness settled in around them, and Hermione could barely make out the figure besides her, she thought it was safe to admit. "I love you too," she whispered into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

Draco sat stunned. He could not believe what he had just heard. A deep sense of happiness seemed to overwhelm him, but a nagging sense of worry bothered him. Draco had done all he could to protect Hermione, which included casting a memory charm on her, yet she had fallen in love with him. Again. Which meant that all his efforts had been wasted. He suddenly could not face Hermione, the person whom he had caused so much hurt.

"We better be going," Draco said abruptly, standing up. "The others would probably have noticed our absence." And with that, he hastily walked back to the castle, leaving Hermione standing on the spot, looking a little hurt at his hurried departure.

As Hermione watched Draco's figure getting smaller and smaller as he faded away into the shadows, confusion overcame her. She clutched her head, willing her mind to be clear, to let her think. The patronuses...what she had just confessed...she seemed to barely know him, yet at the same time she felt like she had known him for many years...Slowly, Hermione trailed after Draco's footsteps back to the castle. The Great Hall was silent, which meant that everyone must be back in their common rooms, but she dreaded returning to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione did not want to face her fellow Gryffindors and their questions about her absence.

The room of requirement...it suddenly occurred to Hermione. A room that could be entered only when the seeker had real need of it. She desperately wanted somewhere to sort out her thoughts in peace, to decide what she would do next, how she would face Draco the next day. She had heard Harry talk about the room before, and even though she could not recall having ever visited the room before, the room seemed warm, comforting and...familiar.

Hermione made her way to the room of requirement, feeling strangely alone. A small part of her, a part of her that seemed like something from a dream told her that she had been into the room before, but always with someone else besides her. A someone with white-blond hair. A deep sense of loss filled her, and Hermone wondered why whenever the mysterious boy, a boy whom she did not even know appeared in her thoughts, it would be accompanied by feelings of sadness and loss.

Unknown to Hermione, Draco was also seeking peace and a place to sort out his thoughts, which ranged from anger at putting Hermione in danger yet again to elation that Hermione had fallen in love with him for the second time. "Somewhere to sort out my thoughts in peace," he thought as he walked three times past the blank wall on the seventh floor. To his immense relief, a door appeared and he stepped into the room.

Fate had the strangest way of working, and after a few minutes had passed, Hermione walked past the the same stretch of wall three times thinking exactly the same thing as Draco.

The room was quiet when she stepped in, except for strains of music coming from somewhere in the vastness of the room. Tall bookshelves were everywhere, surrounded by piles of large cushions and steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

Hermione walked cautiously around the room. The cushions, the bookshelves, the strange beautiful music, she had encountered them before. When, she had no idea, but she knew that she had been there before. Hermione walked towards the music, and the closer she walked, the louder the music got. She closed her eyes, and let the music wash over her. It enveloped her and gave her a deep comfort words could not express. Hermione let out a small sigh of relief. Alone at last...she thought. But barely a second after her thought, a surprised voice rang out behind her, "Hermione?"

Draco regretted calling Hermione's name. She needs some peace and quiet, and to be away from people, especially you, the person who caused her misery, he scolded himself. But it was too late. Hermione stiffened, and her eyes flew open in shock. Draco Malfoy always seemed to be wherever she was. And even though she seeked the room to find a place of peace and solitude, Hermione found that she welcomed the presence of him. Suddenly, she realised that the empty part of her seemed to fill up whenever Draco was around.

Turning towards Draco, Hermione motioned towards the cushions stacked besides the bookcases. Instinct told her that sitting down and having a long conversation with Draco seemed like the right thing to do.

Draco sat down on the cushion nearest to him and Hermione took her seat next to him. A sense of recklessness overcame Draco and he made another rash decision to make yet another effort to bring back Hermione's memory. The empty hollowness in her eyes whenever she stared at him was too much to bear. Draco remembered when her eyes sparkled with happiness and contentment, and the hollowness did not exist.

"Ever came to this place before?" Draco asked, trying to sound casual. Hermione shook her head, then nodded. "I...I don't know...this place seems like it appeared to me before in some dream from a long time ago" she said, her voice shaky.

"I've came here before, lots of times, but always with someone else," Draco continued, glancing at Hermione to see if his words meant anything to her. After all, that "someone else" was her. "We used to come here to escape from the rest of the school. We talked about many things and we shared everything with each other."

"Why come to the room all the time?" Hermione asked. But even before Draco replied her, she somehow already knew the answer. "We were from different houses, and to even be friends with someone from a different house was considered treachery for Slytherins, especially since she was a Gryffindor, and we were...more than just friends."

"Who was that person?" Hermione questioned curiously. "It doesn't matter," Draco smiled sadly. "She doesn't remember me now, she doesn't remember the memories we had. That part of her that remembered vanished."


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm sure she remembers, some things can't be forgotten, no matter what happens," Hermione said immediately. "Isn't love supposed to be the most powerful magic?"

If that was so, Draco thought, then maybe the memory charm could be completely lifted after all. "When you said you loved me just now, did you really mean it?" Draco questioned. He still found Hermione falling in love with him for the second time quite hard to believe. "Of... of course," she stammered. Hermione meant that. She did not even care if everyone disapproved, loving Draco just seemed so right, something that filled the empty hole in her heart.

"Don't you hate the constant house rivalry," Hermione said, "How it's some unspoken rule that Gryffindors and Slytherins have to be deadly rivals." Draco agreed immediately, and a part of him felt lighter. That sounded like something the old Hermione would say.

"And sometimes it gets so hard, how the people you call your friends just don't understand you, and...and... have you ever thought about running away from here?" Hermione ended off in a barely audible whisper. That was how she felt, that was what she wanted, to escape the place where people did not truly understand her, where the only person whom she felt actually knew her was a Slytherin.

"Where would you go? To the muggle world?" Even though Draco's voice was teasing, he was serious. He had never been in the muggle world before, and something about it terrified him.

"In the muggle world, everything, everyone is equal. Anyone can be friends, no one cares if you're a pure blood or muggle born. And the muggles don't worry about Voldemort. He's not like a dark cloud constantly looming over them. He doesn't affect them, like he affects us. But the point is, muggles seem so happy, without Voldemort taking away their happiness!" Hermione's eyes blazed as her voice rang out across the room. She never really talked about Voldemort, but now she seemed to feel particularly angry towards him, as though she held him personally responsible for her unhappiness.

Draco stared at her uneasily. If Hermione felt so strongly about the dark lord, he suspected she would not look too fondly on death eaters, supposedly Voldemort's most loyal servants. His arm hovered nervously over his dark mark, and he wondered whether he should still keep his dark secret from her. It had been hard enough breaking the news to her the first time, and he dreaded doing it again.

"Draco?" Hermione did not miss the nervous gesture over his left forearm. "You're a death eater, aren't you?" She stated it simply, and without an accusatory tone.

It wasn't the first time she had known someone to be a death eater. Recalling how she had heard it as she walked with the person who had told her, the person with white blond hair, how she had been shocked and scared for that person. "How could you be so stupid to become a death eater, you could be killed any day by Voldemort," Hermione remembered sobbing.

Draco recalled how Hermione had reacted the first time he had told her, and thought how different her reaction was then compared to now. But even as Hermione spoke the words calmly, he was reminded with a painful start that he could be called to join Voldemort and the rest of the death eaters any time the dark lord decided to start the war between the wizarding world. And then he and Hermione would be forced to take sides and fight against each other, and to fight to kill...Draco dreaded to think any further.

Hermione looked at him with eyes that showed sadness that words could not express. Death eater or not, she knew she loved Draco and could not bear the danger that he put himself in by being one.

"Let's not talk about death eaters," Draco said quietly. "Let's talk about something happy. Remember the first potions lesson in Hogwarts at the start of the third year?" In the fuzziness of Hermione's mind she could make out something about the class being about love potions.

"Snape asked us to identify Amortentia from an assortment of other potions. You put your hand up immediately and he must have been in a good mood that day, because he let you go near the cauldrons and identify it," Draco started, smiling slightly at what was to come next.

Hermione blushed furiously, she somehow rememebered the next part. Draco never let her forget it, seizing opportunities to remind her.

"You pointed to the potion bubbling in the cauldron third from the right, and when Snape asked you what it smelt like to you, your eyes seemed sort of far away and you whispered to yourself, "freshly cut grass, new parchment and..." Draco caught Hermione's eye and smirked. "No...don't say it again," Hermione moaned, covering his mouth in mock embarrassment. "And..."Draco's hair," you said. I heard that part, even though the rest of the class didn't. Snape's face was priceless," Draco finished, a small grin playing on his lips. "Hermione, you do remember that day don't you?" he asked, a small note of urgency in his voice.

Did she remember? Draco's words triggered a powerful something in her memory and bit by bit Hermione seemed to be able to piece the memory back in her mind. And with that memory, a whole string of thoughts rushed to her. Looking at him carefully, Hermione said slowly, "Draco Malfoy, have we met before?"

I think the next chapter will be the final chapter. Please review :)


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione's words tore at his heart. How was he supposed to answer that? As Draco gazed at her, at her questioning and confused eyes, and at the sadness within them, he knew that there was no turning back.

Draco knew he had tried his best to bring back Hermione's memory after taking it away, because he told himself that Hermione would be happier with him than without. He had started everything, and everything had gone so wrong because of him, and it was his responsibility to Hermione to try to make everything better.

Memories...to bring back Hermione's memories, he could take her into his memories, Draco thought suddenly. A pensieve, I need a pensieve, he thought urgently, and one appeared in front of them. The stone basin seemed to stand expectantly, and trembling slightly, Draco brought his wand to his head and a long silver thread of memory came away from his head, clinging to the wand tip. Longer and longer the memories stretched until it broke and swung, silvery bright, from the wand. Hermione stared in wonder at the silvery gas. She knew what it was. Draco lowered the silvery gas into the waiting stone baisin, and taking Hermione's hand, he whispered, "I'll show you the truth." Clutching Draco's hand tightly, she suddenly felt frightened, but the presence of Draco reassured her. Simlutaneously, they plunged their heads into the swirling substance, and fell headfirst into blinding sunlight.

"Is that me, Draco?" Hermione called out in shock. Besides her, Draco nodded. With a start, she recognised the scene from her first year, the time she had saved a boy from the whomping willow. The boy...who was it? Hermione whipped her head around and squinting her eyes, stared at the tree. She saw herself running towards the trunk, and pressing the knot as the Whomping Willow thrashed about furiously with the boy on one of its branches. The boy...she saw he come down from the branch, shaking and stumbling a little. He was Draco. Thank you, Hermione heard him say to her year one self, and she vaguely recalled how happy she had felt with Draco smiling at her.

The scene dissolved and in the distance she saw her year three self faced with a hippogriff. That disastrous Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Hermione thought to herself. The hippogriff had very nearly attacked her. She saw herself slowly backing away...but the hippogriff was gradually advancing on her, it's ugly head rearing inches away from hers. Even though she knew nothing could hurt her in the memory, Hermione still shuddered slightly at the sight of the ferocious beast. "Don't worry," Draco murmered besides her comfortingly, "you're safe." And just as he said that, the thirteen year old Draco ran to the aid of the thirteen year old Hermione. Even in the distance, Hermione could make out the distinct shape of Draco rushing to her as she stood rooted to the spot with fright. He grabbed her and pulled her to the side just as the hippogriff's beak made a slashing motion for her arm. Thank you, Hermione said softly.

The scene reformed and she realised she was at the Yule Ball, in her fourth year. Looking around, Hermione realised with a jolt that she was dancing with Draco. The people surrounding them were shooting them disapproving glances, but they danced on, looking as though they did not have a care in the world. Hermione remembered how she felt, as she got lost in the warm grey eyes of Draco. They had been so...happy. And she knew where the picture she had picked up from among Draco's belongings had come from. "I don't care what everyone else thinks," the fourteen year old Draco was saying urgently. "I love you." And over the din of the music, Hermione could hear herself admitting that she loved him too.

The scene of the Yule Ball disappeared and they were watching Draco staring sleeplessly into the fire of the Slytherin common room. He had just returned to Hogwarts from the Easter break in his fifth year, only to be informed by his parents that the dark lord required him to follow in his parents' footsteps and become a death eater. His first thought had been of Hermione, and how it would affect her. The dormitory was deserted in the early hours of the morning yet Draco continued sitting still as stone, wondering how he would protect Hermione. And after weeks of thought, Draco had decided that the only way to protect her would be to make him forget about him.

The restlessness and anguish in Draco pained Hermione as she stared at him pacing up and down the corridor. The corridor outside the room they were now in. Draco had asked her to meet him there for something, and what that something was she soon saw.

"_Hermione_,_ I'm so sorry, I love you, but I have to do this, I have to protect you."_

_"Draco, what do you mean?"_

_"Oblivi__ate."_

Hermione saw her eyes slide out of focus, and as she saw herself slowly turn away from Draco and stumble back to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione realised that there were tears in Draco's eyes.

The scene seemed to fly away and they rose out of the pensieve. Finally, the truth. Hermione's head felt much clearer and lighter, and her sadness had miraculously vanished. She glanced at Draco, and recognised him immediately from the time they were first years.

They gazed shyly at each other and Hermione found the words to express her innermost thoughts. "Better with you and in constant danger than safe but without you." And under the high ceilings in the now silent room, their lips met.


	11. Epilogue

_7 years later, at The Burrow_

* * *

The long-awaited day had finally arrived. Hermione woke up in a haze of happiness. In just a few hours time, she would be Mrs Malfoy.

Her wedding gown was hung in a corner of the room, and though it was still early in the morning, she could hear the wedding preparations taking place, along with Mrs Weasley's impatient voice as she tried to convince George that a yellow tie did not go with a purple suit.

"Breakfast, darling?" The voice sent thrills of pleasure down Hermione's spine. Her husband-to-be was standing in front of her, grinning lazily.

Hermione made her way down to the kitchen, hand in hand with Draco. There was an air of frenzied excitement among the witches and wizards there. Hermione's heart leapt with joy. She had not dare imagine that such a wedding, a wedding between a former Gryffindor and Slytherin would be able to take place. But after Harry had killed Voldemort, things had changed.

After breakfast, Draco and Hermione hurriedly made their way to change. Guests were already starting to make their way to the enormous marquee outside the house, where the wedding would take place, among them were Draco's parents, who had finally given their approval, and Hermione's muggle parents, who were gazing with wonder at the gigantic flowers and balloons floating a few feet above the ground outside the marquee.

The presents, the handshakes, the "My, how time flies, look how much you've grown!" were never-ending and caused the morning to pass in a flurry of activity.

And in almost no time, Hermione was hand in in hand with Draco, in front of the wizard who would proclaim them man and wife.

"Do you, Draco Malfoy, take Hermione Jean-" The chatter around them had ceased, and the only sounds heard came from Narcissa Malfoy, Mrs Weasley and Hermione's mother, sobbing into handkerchiefs. Ginny beamed at Hermione, her eyes too were filled with tears. "I do," Hermione heard Draco whisper, his voice filled with emotion. And then it was her turn. "I do," Hermione heard herself murmur.

"Then I declare you bonded for life."

The marquee filled with thunderous applause, and as the chairs in the marquee were magically removed, the surrounding countryside and orchard were revealed, and a dance floor was formed. Hand in hand, Draco and Hermione led the first dance as man and wife, the Gryffindor and Slytherin who had defied the odds.


End file.
